If I may chime in here...my only recollection of what was said regarding those two books was that Tough Guide to Fantasyland picked apart and made fun of every fantasy cliche/trope in the book, and then Dark Lord of Derkholm took a lot of the previously mentioned elements and subverts them quite well in an awesome book. I wish I could recall more but I do know that whatever it was that was said made me put both of them on my to-read list!